I had no idea what an actuary is; I know what an amusement park is, but not what an adventure park is. And, The Rabbit Factor by Finnish author Antti Tuomainen is the story of an actuary who inherits an adventure park! Amazing, isn’t it?

Henri Koskinen—the actuary—is a mathematician working for an insurance company whose job it is to analyse the statistical probability of risks and fix up the appropriate premium to be charged for those. He believes in the rational, logical, consistent and—most importantly—sensible, Mathematics. His well-ordered life is rudely disturbed one beautiful morning when he is shown the door by his boss who finds him unfit to be part of the new-age team. Little more than a week into unemployment, Henri’s life takes a dramatic turn as he is informed by a lawyer that his brother, Juhani, has died suddenly and has bequeathed him an adventure park. Juhani was Henri’s only surviving family and was diametrically opposite to him; an impulsive, emotional, happy-go-lucky kind of man who could be expected to own an adventure park.

Thrust into an entirely alien life, and without any choice in the matter, Henri takes charge of the park—called YouMeFun—and finds out to his shock that, despite the profitable operation, the park is under a huge debt, including a large amount owed to some unsavoury characters by his brother. In addition, almost every one of his employees has a thing or two to say about how to run the park. Armed only with mathematics and logical thinking, Henri embarks on a fight on multiple fronts—the villains, the police, the park staff, and his own emotions—to keep the park, and his own life, ticking over. Will the order-loving mathematician be able to overcome the obstacles thrown up by real life and succeed in fulfilling his brothers last, and only, wish?

The Rabbit Factor is refreshingly unlike any other Scandinavian crime thriller I have read—and loved, undoubtedly—so far. It is warm and sunny for the most part—despite the sense of underlying danger—with a lightness that one does not normally associate with the genre which, by definition, is dark, grim and gory. The setting of The Rabbit Factor—an adventure park—is unique, as is the protagonist—an actuary. Each of the characters is different, quirky and a lot of fun to watch in action. Tuomainen’s narration of the adventure park’s workings, including the distinction between an adventure park and an amusement park, is engaging and enlightening. Translated exceptionally by David Hackston, the fast-moving plot and the unpredictable sequences make the pages turn by themselves. The climax, though feeling a bit flat after all the build-up, is quite satisfactory.

The only problem I had with this endearing novel is the lack of explanation about the financial manoeuvres that Henri attempts. I don’t know if other readers had any trouble following what is happening on this front; but I, for one, would have liked it better if these things made sense to me. Apart from that, I had a wonderful time reading The Rabbit Factor and am not at all averse to seeing Henri Koskinen in further adventures.

I am grateful to Orenda Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC of The Rabbit Factor in exchange for my honest review.

“The Rabbit Factor,” by Finnish author Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston (ASIN: B09KHL64DZ), publication date 17 November 2021, earns four stars.

The story unfolds via the main character’s stream of consciousness conversational style, so strap in because it’s a fast-paced ride. Insurance actuary Henri Koskinen’s predictable life is upended when he is fired because he cannot adapt to the new softer management style of his company. Then, he learns he has inherited an adventure park with a disparate group of employees helping to mismanage it from his now deceased brother. If that wasn’t enough, his brother had business relationships with criminal elements who now expect Henri to pay for his brother’s debts.

Henri embarks on dealing with the employees, criminal elements, and the police, only to find he has a knack for working with people as he turns around the park’s fortunes and, surprisingly, finds love in the midst of his adventures.

It is quirky in the telling, with a vividly developed cast of characters that span the waterfront. The author writes with natural humor, irony, and pathos enough for everyone. The many twists and turns are worth the exquisitely written final pages—a remarkably honest and poignant expression of affection.

Thanks to the publisher, Orenda Books (Kindle Format), for granting this reviewer the opportunity to read this Advance Reader Copy (ARC), and thanks to NetGalley for helping to make that possible.

Often books by foreign authors that have been translated are difficult to understand. The Rabbit Factor, however is not one of those books. The translation is perfect, and readers will find that the book, by bestselling Finnish author, Antti Tuomainen, is fascinating and easy to read. Henri Koskinen, a stuffed shirt insurance actuary and certified nerd loses his job because he won’t comply with his company’s changes; the next day his brother dies and leaves him an adventure park that is in financial difficulty. After a few days of learning about the adventure park and what his management duties entail, he is visited by two mobsters who insist he pay his brother’s gambling debts. He refuses, and is visited at night by another mobster who tries to kill him, but he is able to kill the mobster with the ear of a large plastic rabbit at the front of the park. He wraps the body in plastic wrap and places it in a freezer in the café.

The novel is sort of a farce of not only nerdy mathematical types, but also mobster types. The humor is very dry, and will keep readers laughing throughout. However, Henri is in danger most of the time, and is saved only by his calculations on the mathematical probability of what comes up. Needless to say, this is a different perspective than most of us have, and is interesting as well as fascinating. On his first day he falls in love with Laura Helanto, the girl running the park, but because he is such a nerd, doesn’t recognize it as love.

Tuomainen does an excellent job of developing the characters, and they seem almost real. Readers will easily be able to picture them in their minds, and as the story goes, laugh at the scenarios that are happening. The plot is light and funny, but the story flows in such a way that readers will be glued to their seats wanting to find what happens next. The fact that the novel takes place in Helsinki, Finland adds some charm and mystery (most of us haven’t spent much time there, after all), and makes this almost farce extra fun.

This is one of those novels that everyone with any sense of humor will love. It is highly recommended, and while it would be categorized as a true thriller, has very little sex and profanity, with no graphic violence – the violence being more like a cartoon. The dénouement is a surprise, and most readers will look forward to the next novel by this author.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

The Rabbit Factor
by Antti Tuomainen

I did have difficulty getting the ebook to work. It was finally determined it was not to be. So, I cannot rate is as great, but reviews seem to love it. So, I comprised my rating.

This is my second book from the author and he does not disappoint.

It is a crime thriller with a very fast pace and a lot of dark humor thrown in. The story about the protagonist inherited a troubled amusement, I mean, adventure park from his dead brother is fairly simplistic but it is the treatment that lifts it above average. All the characters lend to a comical telling.

Looking forward to more from the author.

“Sisu” is an enigmatic Finnish word that does not lend itself to any precise translation. The closest that one can get to deciphering this inscrutable word is to conveniently label the same as a unique and proprietary Finnish concept. A Finnish way of life even. An idea that connotes stoic determination, characterizes a tenacity of purpose, and cleaves resilience with hardiness. It is also the key to life, love and liberty.

Antti Tuomainen, the latest superstar of noir fiction seems to sizzle with “Sisu”. Upending the boiler plate template for crime fiction, Tuomainen makes mordant and gallows humour more appealing than it has ever been done before. “The Rabbit Factor” is a reader’s delight. One part mysterious and two parts rib-tickling, this is a book which cries out for adaptation by every other form of media.

Henri Koskinen is an actuary by profession. The mathematical exactitude which is an uncompromising attribute in his insurance trade is however, an absolute impediment to the people who are acquainted with him. Henri leads his life with a clockwork precision that would even put a Gaussian equation to veritable shame. His extrapolation of the rigours of Mathematics to every human activity means that he is tolerated only by his cat, Schopenhauer, named after the famous German philosopher. Things reach a head when one of Henri’s peers – a man who has the capacity to make the word incompetent seem virtuous – disturbs the pecking order of meritocracy and becomes his boss. Henri is given three simple choices: attempt to resonate with the antics of a greater part of humanity by enrolling himself in asinine boiler template corporate courses (including one on transcendental meditation); spend the rest of his life cloistered in a janitor room performing insurance calculations that are absolutely outdated and consequently unnecessary, or tender his resignation. Preferring self-esteem over serenity, Henri quits his job.

Just when Henri is wrapping his head around his newly introduced misfortune, calamity strikes with neither remorse nor reproof. A lawyer materializes at Henri’s doorstep with a fat bill and a thin will. Informing Henri about his brother Juhani’s unfortunate demise, courtesy a cardiac arrest while driving a Volvo, the lawyer also wistfully adds that Henri is now the sole inheritor of an amusement park named YouMeFun. Proceeding to regale the lawyer about the not so subtle differences between an adventure park and an amusement park, Henri painstakingly educates his befuddled visitor about his inheritance of an adventure park & not an amusement park. The lawyer expresses genuine indifferent to both the nature and nomenclature of the entertainment venue so long as his bill is paid.

Henri pays YouMeFun a visit and upon scrutinizing the financial affairs of the adventure park, is sent into a tailspin. Juhani seems to have cultivated a peculiar affection for an unending stream of loans and an unfortunate link with a few menacing guys adorning the underworld. The complications associated with Juhani’s criminal links take a positively murky turn when a knife throwing assassin attempts to arrange a premature meeting between Henri and his maker. This galling endeavour is defeated only after a fortuitous and spontaneous act by Henri that involves drilling a 25 centimeter rabbit ear into the skull of his would be murderer.

The employees of YouMeFun also make up for an amalgam of the extraordinary. Esa the security in charge is predisposed to an unknow diet that makes him break malodorous wind that has the effect on the nostrils of the unsuspecting, the same impact of inhaling noxious fumes of sulfuric acid in a laboratory. Laura Helanto is not only a expert in the world of finance but is also an excellent artist whose admiration of Helen Frankenthaler, O’ Keefe, Jackson Pollock, Monet and various other Masters adds immense value to YouMeFun in the form of some exquisitely painted murals. Minttu K, the Marketing Manager reeks of gin and tonic as early as 9.00 A.M and possesses a raspy voice that would put even the most obstinate of sandpapers to utter disdain.
If YouMeFun needs to be preserved as a going concern, Henri, Laura, Esa, Minttu, and the rest of the people making up the team, need to act quickly and decisively. Henri, in particular seems to be running out of both time and ideas to keep a bunch of terrifying mobsters at bay. Just when it seems that all hopes and expectations have reached a point of no return, the Science of Mathematics provides the lone source of hope for Henri and the future of YouMeFun. However, for Mathematics to work its miracle, Henri would first need to meet a dangerous individual who alternatively bakes cinnamon buns and breaks necks, both with a carefully cultivated ease…

“The Rabbit Factor”, a where Andrey-Kurkov-meets-Mikhail-Bulgakov work, is easily one of the best fiction novels to have hit the shelves this year. It may also be the arrival of one of the greatest purveyors of its genre!

It would be sorely remiss of any reviewer to not mention the magnificent and magisterial effort of David Hackston in translating this marvelous book from Finnish to English.

(The Rabbit Factor is published by Orenda Books, an Independent Publishers Group and will be available for sale from the 1st of May 2022 onwards. Thank You, Net Galley for the Advance Reviewer Copy)

I really enjoyed this story. It’s fun and unique. The characters are well developed and the writing is good. The only downfall is that the arc copy is a bit messy, I know it will be edited and fixed before publication so no stars taken for that, just a heads up for others that may get approved.

4 stars

The Rabbit Factor is literary, character-driven, with moments of thrill and dark humor. It’s a bit hard to categorize, but altogether entertaining and a decent diversion.

The first part in an intended trilogy, Antti Tuomainen's The Rabbit Factor is much more than a typical Nordic crime novel as the Finnish author combines the farcical with the lurid and the outcome is a multi-faceted book that resists strict genre categorization for all the right reasons. The ubiquitous comical element is aptly incorporated to the main storyline that chronicles the journey of a rather one-dimensional protagonist to a fully-fleshed character through the power of art and love. The text bears the trademark characteristics of Tuomainen's writing style and dazzles the reader due to its wittiness and dark humor that pervades the plot and provides the necessary relief from some truly heinous acts such as the murder of a man with the ear of a giant plastic rabbit.

Both the protagonist, Henri Koskinen, and the villains are drawn as unconventional and idiosyncratic individuals who dance around each other for the sole purpose of profit and their course of action is dictated by the exceptional circumstances carved out by the death of Henri's brother, Juhani, who leaves a substantial debt to be paid. Henri is an insurance actuary and a firm believer in the power of mathematical reasoning. His whole life rotates around numbers and he finds comfort in the precision of his computational skills that help him choose the optimal way of behavior every time he finds himself in a difficult situation. Rationalism is Henri's secret weapon, applying order to a chaotic world that often becomes unfathomable because of its ever-growing unknown variables generated from the people's unstable and unpredictable emotional responses to external stimuli.

The action begins with Henri getting fired from his job in the insurance company as his boss embraces a radically innovative view on how to run the show and bond with his employees. Bewildered by the latest developments, Henri is visited by a lawyer who announces to him that his brother has died due to heart failure and that he has inherited Juhani's adventure park, a profitable venture in Helsinki's outskirts. Reluctantly, Henri visits the park and gets to know some of the people working there such as Kristian, Laura, Minttu, and Esa who work on different sectors and altogether constitute the team that essentially runs the business. After a thorough audit of the financial and accounting reports of the park, Henri realizes that there are hefty sums of money missing with no apparent explanation.

Struggling to work out what is happening, he gets a visit by two gangsters who inform him that Juhani had borrowed a lot of money for them and that now Juhani has inherited the debt. Initially, Henri denies to discuss with the two thugs, however he soon understands that he has no other option but to submit and find a way to repay the initial capital and the extraordinary interest that is demanded. In a desperate state he hatches a complicated plan that is beneficial both to him and his debtors and involves large-scale money laundering through his newly inherited business. At the same time, Henri gets romantically entangled with Laura, the park's general manager, who is also a painter and a woman who adopts an aesthetic view of life. Their intimate relationship will have a profound effect on Henri who will realize that perhaps there is more to life than numbers and equations.

The purely criminal aspect walks hand-in-hand with the romantic one and the reader witnesses Henri's transformation from a frigid calculator to a whole new human being who appreciates beauty as expressed in Laura's ravishing murals that decorate the walls of the adventure park. His interactions with the world of organized crime are hilarious as the villains are portrayed as ruthless, nevertheless all too human actors having their own whims. For example, the big crime boss has a knack for baking gargantuan cinnamon buns that he later feeds his guests at gunpoint. Tuomainen's narration is exemplary as we follow Henri's first-person account of the plot's events and we witness his complicated thought process that involves the use of advanced mathematics and deductive reasoning. It should be noted that the English translation by David Hackston is flawless and the flow of the text is uninterrupted and natural, reducing nothing from the original.

I hear that there will be a feature film adaptation of The Rabbit Factor casting Steve Carell in the role of Henri Koskinen. It would be interesting to watch the experienced American actor incarnating Tuomainen's odd protagonist and I believe that this novel provides the best basis for a compelling script. It contains all the main elements of a dark crime/comedy mixed with a peculiar love story that is destined to move and engage the audience. Fans of the Finnish author's previous work should definitely read this one and the same goes to all those who love quirky crime novels with unique characterization. I will be eagerly waiting for the second installment in the series and I hope that the always up to the minute Orenda Books will soon publish more of Tuomainen's work.

The format of the e-book copy was a bit of a mess, it took a few tries in changing the layout and fonts a few to make it readable. The Rabbit Factor was quite a thrill ride (figuratively and literally) in an adventure park! Henri was a no-nonsense, ever so practical actuary who inherited an adventure park (and all its set of problems) when his fun-loving, risk-taking brother passed away. Not wanting to fail his brother's dying wish, he used his exceptional mathematical and analytical skills to try to solve every single issues that came along with the park. It was a fast-paced, enjoyable read. Looking forward to see the film version of this!

Upon reading The Rabbit Factor, you accept the fact Henri Koskinen is one of the most endearing characters the gifted Antti Tuomainen has created. And, in his wonderfully wacky universe of the absurd, that's high praise. It's no surprise to learn this book has been selected for a film adaptation. It's a skillfully crafted tale and populated with the colorful characters you expect from the terrific Tuomainen. A poignant thriller which never takes itself so seriously it passes up the opportunity to make the reader laugh. Criminals. Lovers. And an adventure park. The kind of book Kilgore Trout might have written had he been Finnish. Thank you to Orenda Books and NetGalley for the advance reading copy! #TheRabbitFactor #NetGalley.

Henri Koskinen grea up with disorganized parents, and as a child, looked to mathematics to help sooth his disordered world. As a result, he becomes an actuary, who lives by actuarial principles. This obviously makes Henri an oddball. He’s unfortunately fired from his actuarial job, and shortly afterwards, finds out that he’s inherited a children’s adventure park from his brother, who died prematurely. Unbeknownst to Henri, the park is saddled with high interest debt from local mobsters.

The Rabbit Factor takes this mix, and brews a fascinating novel. I’ve never quite met such an eccentric fictional character as Henri, and the author skillfully brings him to life. We see how Henri’s life changes as he grows into his new role as park manager, deals creatively with the mobsters, and falls in love. This was such a great book, and due to Henri’s quirks, was quite different from other books I’ve read in a good while.

My thanks to Independent Publishers Group, and to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Was pretty excited to read this, however, the copy I received was such a mess--sentences cut up midway and separated by paragraph spacing--I was unable to.

Actuary Henri Koskinen learns in one day that he has lost his job and his brother. His brother leaves him his adventure park in his will, with an admonition to ensure that it keeps running. Henri feels obligated to do so, despite his misgivings.

The park has a strange assortment of employees, including one worker who never shows up, a maintenance man who claims to have been promised the general managership, and Laura, a wannabe artist managing the office. The latter persuades Henri to back her idea of a bunch of murals for the park, which the mathematically-minded Henri starts to find a strangely enticing idea.

Henri also finds out pretty quickly that his brother had been involved in some shady goings-on with local criminals, and that keeping the park operating is going to be a lot riskier than he thought. He sets about using his mathematics and logic skills to both deal with these thugs, and with the various demands of his staff.

This book is miles away from "The Healer", a rather grim dystopian Scandi-noir about a serial killer, indeed it's hard to believe the same writer came up with both novels. This one is more of a light-hearted crime story, with a protagonist who reminded me quite a lot of Don Tillman, from The Rosie Project, in his social stiffness and logic-oriented approach to life.

The Rabbit Factor is about a man named Henri who inherits an adventure park after his brother’s sudden death. However, with the park, Henri also inherits his brother’s large gambling debt to some shady characters. Henri spends his days trying to get the adventure park properly running, and his nights trying to outsmart the criminals who are after the debt.
This was a quirky, quick read, and I did enjoy it. Henri loves math and looks at everything as a mathematical equation to be solved, and as a disliker of all things math related I did find myself skimming over the more excessively mathy paragraphs. However, I did ultimately enjoy Henri’s accidental foray into the criminal underworld, and his adventures trying to save his park.

How could you not enjoy a main character who is an actuary, lives a life of pure logic and mathematics, has little empathy and hates modern management theory. He inherits an adventure park after his brother dies suddenly. He also inherits his brother's debts accrued to fund his gambling addiction. Unfortunately a big chunk of his debt was to a shady underground figure. Our hero has to find a way out of all of his problems.
It's a humorous and fun to read story. Henri the actuary turned adventure park owner matures along the way as he grapples with the feelings of his employees and of his own when he finds love.

Great thriller. Never heard of the author but gave the story a try and really enjoyed it, the plot, characters, all of it. Highly recommend! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

** spoiler alert ** I read this story from Antti Tuomainen and really enjoyed it. It was part human interest with his brother dying and then having him chased through the park with a knife throwing man. Having put him in a freezer and then falling in love with the parks general manager (Laura). Falling for her after seeing that she could paint and not knowing that Henri Koskinen was in love. It was funny that he actually killed 3 men who were after him and the forth man finally got blamed for the 3rd mans murder. It was interesting that all the people were for his knowledge in changing how the park operated. The actuarial man and his mathematical formulas gave Laura the incentive to paint. And it gave the forth man the incentive to create a company that would take over the Bank that that he set up, but things changed and it makes for interesting reading. I like the way it ended (not noir) but with a good feeling.